Banking on Italians

Since before the creation of the single currency, Italy has been weighed down with high levels of debt and governments unable or unwilling to sort out the public finances and clamp down on tax evasion.

Nevertheless, it looks as if Italians are taking over the running of the eurozone. Last week, Vittorio Grilli, head of international affairs at Italy’s finance ministry, was chosen to chair the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), taking over from Thomas Wieser of Austria’s finance ministry. The EFC is a committee of very senior officials from national finance ministries (including, in some cases, deputy finance ministers) who meet monthly to prepare meetings of Ecofin, the council of finance ministers.

Last month, Andrea Enria from the Italian central bank was appointed chairman of the European Banking Authority, the new regulator of the banking sector.

Marco Buti, another Italian, is the European Commission’s director-general of economic and financial affairs.

Moreover, Mario Draghi, the current head of Italy’s central bank, is the front-runner to become president of the European Central Bank when Jean-Claude Trichet reaches the end of his term of office in November. The appointment of Trichet’s successor is scheduled for the June meeting of the European Council and it may be that the only way to thwart Draghi’s elevation is to put so many Italians into top EU finance jobs that his appointment looks egregious. But never let it be said that Entre Nous descended to improbable conspiracy theories.